To provide high-quality dental and mental health services to low income children and their families in the South Bay in a family-focused, friendly environment that is welcoming and approachable to all who come through our doors.

South Bay Children’s Health Center (SBCHC) was founded in 1947 to meet the most pressing unmet health care needs of low income children in the South Bay. Beginning as a dental clinic; a hearing clinic, vision clinic and special services clinic were soon added to round out the array of services being offered at that time. In 1967, in response to the growing need for mental health services for children in the South Bay, and in affiliation with the Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic and USC School of Medicine, SBCHC’s Child Guidance Clinic was established. By 2008, SBCHC integrated the South Bay Youth Project, formerly run by the City of Redondo Beach into its array of services allowing us to offer a full range of child and youth focused mental health services in a clinic environment as well as within local schools.

Over the years, SBCHC has continued to be responsive to the most urgent unmet community health care needs for low income children, focusing on community collaboration with other non-profit organizations and local school districts to maximize effectiveness and minimize service duplication. Today SBCHC offers three primary programs intended to improve the oral and mental health of more than 25,000 very low, low and moderate income children each year. Our focus on oral and mental health has a positive impact on the overall health and well-being of those we serve as well as an impact on their overall future successes.

SBCHC Dental Services - A community based oral health outreach program serves the multi-purpose of screening children, teens and adolescents at risk of untreated dental decay, educating program participants and families about how they can move towards improved oral health, and highlighting the SBCHC Lawndale Dental Clinic as an accessible, high-quality, affordable dental home. The Lawndale Dental Clinic, a four-operatory facility easily accessible for South Bay families by car or public transportation, provides high quality, comprehensive dental care in a dental home for children from infancy through adolescence (6 months-24 years of age).

SBCHC Child Guidance Clinic - Provides psychotherapy for children, primarily in its in-office clinic, for children with emotional or behavioral challenges, and their families. The Child Guidance Clinic in Torrance provides out-patient mental health services, including diagnostic assessment services, individual and family therapy, parenting support, psychiatric services and psychological testing services delivered by a team of mental health professionals. To maximize treatment benefits, we utilize clinical interventions that are evidence based in order to treat the specific issues presented by our clients.

South Bay Youth Project - A unique collaboration between SBCHC and the community, the South Bay Youth Project offers mental health services, where children and families live, work and attend school. The majority of counseling services are offered in local schools and preschools in the South Bay focusing on the children and families that are challenged in accessing these vital services.

In addition, the South Bay Youth Project offers supportive services beyond counseling that also help South Bay Youth succeed, including our Wilderness Program, and age-appropriate tutoring services. Through a new collaboration with Torrance Memorial Medical Center, health needs assessments and screenings, health education, and case management linkage services will be provided to families in Lawndale, El Segundo, Hawthorne and Gardena.